


Gillyflowers Maybe, 'Stead of Daisies

by mizface



Series: Linnet Bird [8]
Category: Canadian 6 Degrees, Harper's Island
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-07
Updated: 2011-10-07
Packaged: 2017-10-24 09:33:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/261855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mizface/pseuds/mizface
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Title from <i>Sweeney Todd lyrics.</i>  Betaed by lucifuge5.</p><p>Spoilery for the series, post-series AU.</p>
    </blockquote>





	Gillyflowers Maybe, 'Stead of Daisies

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hazelwho](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazelwho/gifts).



> Title from _Sweeney Todd lyrics._ Betaed by lucifuge5.
> 
> Spoilery for the series, post-series AU.

The first time Madison saw photos of the scene at the tree, it left her breathless. Truth was, it struck a chord deep within her, and thinking that made her hide a smile, because John would have appreciated the reaction. The genius of his work, she knew, came not from what could be seen, but from what could be heard.

John had told her about his life, how he envisioned the world during their too-brief time under the mansion. To John, all sound, both natural and man-made, combined to create a vast and glorious symphony. What happened on the island was just that – a series of orchestrations carefully composed and executed to add just the right note at just the right moment.

And Madison could appreciate that, but her primary medium was visual, and the impact of this image was startlingly intense, even in the grainy newspaper clipping. The composition was balanced, even though by all rights it shouldn’t have been, with two bodies on one side and only one on the other. But that lone man, arms spread up at an angle that mirrored the surrounding branches, head tilted to follow the same line, was perfectly placed.

The women lined up beautifully as well, the foot of the higher one hanging so that it followed the line of rope for the lower, connecting them visually. Their soft curves echoed that of the trunk of the tree.

The branches of the trees, rising upward, drew the eye to the bodies, and again, the positions were perfect, arms tilted just so to move at that same slant.

And the play of light and dark kept the eye moving as well, kept the piece from being too weighted. The pale colors the women wore, combined with their pallid skin, created a kind of negative space that broke up the denseness of the surrounding foliage the heavy moss covering the tree’s bark and limbs.

She was certain that John’s main concern had been putting the bodies at just the right spot on each branch so that it would creak and groan under the weight but not break. So that a strong wind might rustle clothing as if it were leaves. So that when his creation had been found, the crunch of leaves underfoot would give way to gasps that would hang in the still air just like the figures in his tableau. That its visual composition had been as powerful was likely secondary to him.

She could only hope to someday attain his level of artistry.

 

You can go here to see the picture in question: http://wiki.harpersglobe.com/index.php/File:1x01_-_TreeofWoe.jpg


End file.
